Tourism gets quake-struck village back on track

For many people in the Tibet autonomous region, their daily lives have slowly been returning to normal, following the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015.

Bordering Nepal, Tibet's 18 counties were badly affected by the quake, with reconstruction work that has been in process for two years still not complete.

Known as the Back Garden of Qomolangma - which is known as Mount Everest in the West - Tibet's Gyirong county was one of the worst hit in the region.

At Ne, more than 80 percent of the village's 68 houses collapsed or were damaged, while roads to the village were destroyed.

With four of the reported 27 deaths caused by the quake in the region from the village, Ne was the county's most severely affected village.

Construction of housing and a new village road is ongoing with the support of the local government.

Surrounded by snow-capped mountains overlooking forests and grassland, Ne has become a tourism spot in recent years.

But after the earthquake, the village only received about 20,000 tourists in 2015, according to the county's tourism bureau.

"Thanks to reconstruction efforts, the village received about 100,000 tourists in 2016, with tourism revenue exceeding 50 million yuan ($7.3 million)," said Tsesang, director of the county's tourism bureau.

A quake-relief house construction project will ensure that every household has a room to use as a family inn, decorated by a local tourism company.

"Villagers have been selling local specialties such as Tibetan chicken eggs, fungus and mushrooms to tourists, with average revenue from tourism reaching about 30,000 yuan a year per household," Tsesang said.

"The tourism company has promised to bring tourists to the village. A tourism service center will be built here, with the company and villagers sharing the tourism profits."

According to Tsesang, villagers will receive 70 percent of the profits, and they can also make money by selling local specialties.

Penpa, deputy director of the county's development and reform commission, said Gyirong has combined tourism and quake reconstruction efforts to benefit the village.

"In addition to the family inn program, we would like to introduce services such as bus tours and rental of eco-friendly cars to the village. Tourists can also watch the sunrise and sunset from the village," Penpa said.